The New England Patriots are headed to the Super Bowl after their 10-7 win over the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game.
With the Patriots reaching the big game, Mike Vrabel not only joins an exclusive club, but also has the chance to make some more history as well. Vrabel will be the second person ever to coach and play in a Super Bowl for the same team.
Vrabel joins Gary Kubiak as the only coach who has reached a Super Bowl with the same team as both a coach and a player. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, Vrabel will be the first person in history to win a Super Bowl as a coach and player for the same franchise.
Tom Flores, Mike Ditka, Tony Dungy and Doug Pederson are the only people to win a Super Bowl as both a player and a coach, but none did so with the same team. Vrabel won three Super Bowls as a player, and in his first year as a head coach with the Patriots, he has taken them to the Super Bowl.
Vrabel is the eighth coach in history to lead a team to the Super Bowl in his first year with the team. He joins Kubiak, Jim Caldwell, Jon Gruden, Bill Callahan, George Seifert, Red Miller and Don McCafferty.
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The Patriots were 4-13 last season, and in Vrabel’s first season, they went 14-3, won the AFC East and clinched the No. 2 seed in the AFC. It is the Patriots’ first Super Bowl appearance since the 2018 season, when they defeated the Los Angeles Rams.
Vrabel is a finalist for Coach of the Year. He won Coach of the Year in 2021 with the Tennessee Titans. He went to the AFC Championship in 2019 with the Titans. As a player, he was a Pro Bowler and First-Team All-Pro.
Although Vrabel was a linebacker, he caught 12 touchdowns in his career in the regular season and playoffs combined. He also had 66 sacks, 24 forced fumbles and 851 tackles between the regular season and playoffs in his career.
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